Non-Catholics wishing to join the parish are invited to attend our special RCIA program.

History of the Basilica

Catholic worship at the site of Marietta
dates from 1749, when Jesuit Father Joseph de Bonnecamp, chaplain
to a French expedition from Quebec, celebrated Mass at the
confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers. In the 1830's
a priest from Wheeling occasionally ministered to the few
Catholics in Marietta, saying Mass in "the little brick house
of one Felix McGuire" at the corner of South Fifth and Hart
Streets. By 1838 the Catholic population of the area was large
enough that John B. Purcell, Bishop of Cincinnati, appointed
Father James McGaffrey the first resident priest in Washington
County.

In 1837 the bishop had purchased two lots on South
Fourth Street, on one of which was a small structure. The
lower floor of this building served as a place of worship
until 1853, when the first St. Mary's Church on the adjacent
lot was built. During the pastorate of Father J.D.
Ryan (1862-1870), the church building was condemned as no
longer safe for public meetings. The weight of the roof had
caused the walls to spread outward. There was some discussion at the time to build a new church away from the flood plain,
but the parish chose to repair the church on South Fourth
Street, to strengthen the walls and add supports to the roof.
In the 1870s the church was "handsomely frescoed" and stained
glass windows installed.

During the next decade the spire was
added and a peal of three bells placed in the tower. (The
bells would later be moved to the new church, where they still
intone the Angelus.) The flood of 1884, rising above the main
altar in old St. Mary's, was followed by inundations in 1891,
1895, and 1898. At last the congregation accepted the
necessity of moving to higher ground and in 1900 unanimously
approved the purchase of a lot at the corner of Fourth and
Wooster Streets for a new church. At that time St. Mary's
parish had about 1000 members.

A large house stood on the new church site. Once known as Putnam Hall, it had been a college for young
women. At the behest of the
pastor, Father Francis M. Woesman, a firm from Chicago moved
the building to the north side of the property and placed it
on a new foundation. It still serves as the parish rectory.
The removal took four weeks and cost $3000. Meanwhile, Emile M. Uhlrich, a Cleveland architect, drew plans for the new church
in what he described as "Spanish Renaissance" style, a blend
of Romanesque and Baroque. It was to be a grand structure.

Father Woesman, his Advisory Committee, and several other
members of the congregation broke ground for the church on
July 1, 1903. The contractors for the foundation completed it
that season. On June 12, 1904 James J.
Hartley, D. D., Bishop of Columbus, laid the cornerstone.
About that time contracts for the stone work went to a
Cleveland firm and for the carpentry to C. W. Dowling of
Marietta. Workmen "enclosed" the building in July 1905. There
was then a two-year lapse in construction while subscriptions
were paid and a new campaign for funds launched. Work resumed
in 1907 when contracts were let for the stucco, mosaic, and
other decorative work. On December 12, 1909, Bishop Hartley
consecrated the new St. Mary's Church and celebrated the first
Pontifical High Mass in Marietta.

"The church, according to the Marietta Daily Times
(December 13, 1909), "is of marvelous beauty, no pains having
been spared to make it a place worthy of dedication to the
services of God." The building rises from a platform ten feet
above Fourth Street to a height of more than 100 feet and
stretches in excess of 150 feet along Wooster Street. The
vestibule leads to the long nave with its massive pillars that
direct the eye upward to the great dome at the crossing of the
transept and ahead to the representation of the Assumption of
the Virgin Mary on the wall of the apse. According to the
careful accounting of the Treasurer of the Advisory Committee,
the church cost slightly under $129,000, of which almost
$100,000 came from subscriptions by individuals and Societies
of the Parish." The smallest recorded contribution was ten
cents (the widow's mite?), the largest, from Father Woesman,
was over $4000. By 1916 the parish was free of debt.

One of the glories of the church, the stained glass
windows, replaced clear glass about the time of the First
World War, for it is said that the windows on either side of
the transept and over the balcony, ordered from Munich,
Germany, came through the British blockade on continental
Europe. The large paintings in the transept are also the work
of German artists. The elaborately decorated church of the
early twentieth century remained virtually unchanged until
the 1970s when the interior was lightened and simplified
with the removal of the high altar, the altar rail, and much
of the sanctuary.

A major restoration project was undertaken in 2008-2009. In
addition to necessary repairs to structural elements and electrical systems, the
restoration sought to bring into harmony the present-day liturgical and
functional needs with the splendor of St. Mary’s architecture. Permanent liturgical
fixtures were installed, including a new altar, ambo, baldachin and baptismal
font, each constructed of Bottochino and white Carrara marble. New pieces of
artwork were commissioned (the Crucifixion statue, the Holy Family statue, the
Mother of Perpetual Help Icon and oil paintings depicting the Stations of Light)
and previous works of art were refurbished to enhance liturgical and devotional
celebrations.

The most dramatic episode in the parish’s history occurred on
June 13, 2013 when Pope Francis approved a decree establishing St. Mary’s as
the 76th basilica in the United States, recognizing its historic
significance and artistic splendor. As a basilica, St. Mary’s shares a special
relationship with the See of Rome and the Holy Father. Entitled to make use of
the Papal symbols, including the Papal Keys, the Umbrellino and Tintinnabulum, a basilica is established as a special place of prayer and
pilgrimage. The basilica was inaugurated at a solemn Mass on November 5, 2014.

Until 1868 Marietta was in the diocese of Cincinnati, then
the Diocese of Columbus until 1945. In that year the
newly-created Diocese of Steubenville included southeast
Ohio. Eighteen pastors have served St. Mary's, from Father
McCaffrey to Monsignor Monsignor John Michael Campbell, the current pastor.

St. Mary School

An important part of St. Mary's parish is St. Mary's
School.

The first attempt at founding a school took place in the 1850's. Fr. R. P. O'Neill established a School Society to raise funds for a future school in 1855. Fr. O. A. Walker, who succeeded Fr. O'Neill, attempted to establish a school. John
Sheridan, brother of General Philip Sheridan, was hired as the first teacher
for the one-room school. It was first located on the first floor of the
building (a former grocery store) that had served as the original church and
rectory for the newly formed St. Mary congregation. In 1858 the basement of the
church was converted into a school room. This educational project was not well
supported by the congregation and ultimately failed after only five years. It was not
until more than thirty years later that a school was
successfully established.

During the pastorate of Fr. Francis Woesman, a school building was constructed and St. Mary School was firmly established. On September 7, 1896, "a little band" of five Dominican
sisters "inaugurated the new venture." Enlarged in 1898, the
school building on South Fourth Street survives in the year
2000 as the headquarters of a commercial company.

From 1909
until 1927 St. Mary's children attended classes in the
basement of the new church. In the latter year the parish
built a school on Fifth Street to accommodate twelve grades.
Shortly thereafter St. Mary's High School moved to a new
building on Scammel Street, which after the discontinuance of
the high school became the middle school.

In 1988 the parish
bought the former public school building at Fourth and Marion
Streets and consolidated classes there. The new St. Mary's School opened on
August 29 of that year. While sisters no longer staff the
school an able and caring faculty continue to hold the school
to a high standard and to prepare their young charges for
meaningful lives in the twenty-first century.

1749

Fr. Joseph Peter de Bonnecamp, S.J. offers Mass for Celeron de
Brienville and his 300 troops and local Native Americans at the
confluence of the Muskingum River and the Ohio River on August 16.

1788

Settlement of Marietta established

Early 1800s

Catholic
residents meet in the home of Felix McGuire (corner of Hart & 5th Sts.) for Mass, offered by either Fr. Lee or Fr. Russel who would
travel to Marietta either by boat or by horseback.

1821

Diocese of Cincinnati established (which included all of Ohio, Michigan and other areas of the Northwest Territory)

1830

Fr. Russel presents a
lecture from the Washington County Courthouse steps.

1837

The Bishop of Cincinnati purchases property on South 4th Street for the establishment of St. Mary Parish.

The house on the property had once belonged to John Brough, father of Ohio's Governor from 1863 to 1865.

1838

Fr. James McCaffrey
becomes the first resident pastor.

Fr. McCaffrey converts the first floor of the house on the property (which had been used for a time as a grocery store) into the First Catholic Church in Marietta. Fr. McCaffrey uses the second floor of the house as the parsonage.

1849

Fr. McCaffrey dies of
cholera while going to Pittsburgh to get financial help for St. Mary’s
Church.

1849

Fr. Robert I. Lawrence becomes pastor.

1850

Fr. Peter Perry becomes pastor. Work begins on a new church to accommodate the growing congregation.

1853

Old St. Mary Church completed.

1855

Fr. R. P. O’Neil
becomes pastor.

1856

Fr. R. B. Hardy
becomes pastor.

1857

Fr. O. A. Walker
becomes pastor. He makes the first attempt to establish a school hiring John Sheridan, brother of General Phil Sheridan, to be the first. He earns $15/month. This first school only survives for five years.